Cosmetic labelling Canada requirements for packaging in 2026

Cosmetic labelling in Canada generally requires product identity, metric net quantity, dealer details, consumer-contact information and an ingredient list. Required wording is English and French, except INCI names and dealer identity and principal place of business. Fragrance-allergen disclosure follows concentration thresholds and phased deadlines. Health Canada's labelling guide explains these federal package requirements.

For artwork approval, check the carton and immediate container separately. A bottle inside a carton does not carry the same duties on each label. The Cosmetic Regulations and Health Canada's guide split identity, quantity, contact details and ingredients by location. If there is only one label, it must carry the information otherwise required on both. That rule is section 19.

This is a federal guide. Health Canada says supplementary French-language labelling requirements may apply to products sold in Quebec. Check those before approving packaging for that market. The legal consolidations cited here are current through September 30, 2026. Check for later amendments before approving artwork.

Canadian cosmetic packaging checklist

Use this checklist to allocate information before laying out the artwork. The locations follow the Cosmetic Regulations, Consumer Packaging and Labelling Regulations and Health Canada guide.

Dealer details and consumer-contact information are separate obligations. Section 20(a) permits a telephone number, email, website, postal address or other information enabling contact with a person. An email address alone does not replace the dealer's identity and principal place of business. See the guide's packaging requirements.

For net quantity, liquids, gases and viscous products generally use volume. Solids use weight. Both rules have stated exceptions. Shampoo labelling follows the volume rule for a liquid shampoo. An aerosol declares weight, including propellant and ingredients. See sections 21 to 22 and Health Canada's net-quantity guidance.

Keep the quantity declaration clear, prominent, legible and contrasting on the principal display panel. The Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act, section 4, sets that requirement. Information required by the Cosmetic Regulations must also stay clearly legible through normal sale and use, for the cosmetic's useful life or a refillable container's useful life. That duty is section 18.

Ingredient lists and bilingual labelling

First confirm which ingredient-labelling rules apply to the product. Section 21.1 excludes products whose ingredient labelling falls under the Food and Drug Regulations or Natural Health Products Regulations from sections 21.2 to 21.5. This is not a general exemption for ordinary cosmetics.

Canada uses INCI names for cosmetic ingredients. That does not mean every ingredient needs a separate French translation. For ingredients in the regulations' Schedule, permitted alternatives include the EU technical name, or the INCI name together with its French equivalent. The INCI name alone, or the French equivalent alone, is not enough for those Schedule ingredients. Botanical ingredients need at least the genus and species. See section 21.2.

Water is a useful artwork check. Health Canada's guide accepts "Aqua", "Water/Eau" or "Aqua/Water/Eau". It does not accept "Water", "Eau", "Aqua/Water" or "Aqua/Eau". Apply the official ingredient-naming guidance rather than translating every INCI name or copying an English-only list.

List ingredients in descending order of predominance by weight. Ingredients at 1% or less, and all colourants, may follow ingredients above 1% in any order. If no INCI name exists, use the chemical name. Sections 21.3 to 21.4 set these rules.

Makeup, nail polish and nail enamel shade ranges have a specific option. They may list all colourants used across the range after the permitted plus/minus or "may contain/peut contenir" wording. That permission comes from section 21.2(2). It is not a general right to combine ingredient lists across products.

Small packages and website ingredient lists

A website can carry the ingredient list when packaging is too small for legible labelling. An attached tag, tape or card is another permitted route. The website option requires an outer-label statement that tells buyers where the list appears and gives its location. Health Canada requires that direction in English and French. See section 21.5 and the small-package guidance.

Don't treat this as permission to move every product's ingredients online. A QR code may direct buyers to that website list, but only with the same bilingual statement. Confirm that the package meets the exception before removing its printed list. An ornamental container with no outer package may use an attached tag, tape or card. If there is no outer package and attachment is impractical, section 21.5 allows a leaflet that accompanies the cosmetic at the point of sale.

Fragrance-allergen labelling in Canada

"Parfum" does not cover every fragrance disclosure obligation. Section 21.4 permits parfum and aroma at the end of the list for fragrance or flavour ingredients other than fragrance allergens. It separately requires allergen disclosure above these concentrations:

These are strictly "greater than" thresholds, not "at or above" thresholds. Rinse-off products are intended for removal after application. Leave-on products are intended for prolonged contact with skin, hair or mucous membranes. See sections 2 and 21.4.

Health Canada says affected allergens must appear within the ingredient list, outside "parfum", regardless of their function. This includes allergens present in botanical extracts. For grouped entries, use the specified group name. When you check the threshold, use the sum of the relevant constituent concentrations. A natural-fragrance claim does not remove these duties. See guide sections 8.3.8 to 8.3.8.1.

Which deadline applies?

Health Canada's implementation guidance gives the following Canadian dates. Each applies where the relevant allergen exceeds its concentration threshold.

The Health Canada guide describes an expansion from 24 to 81 entries. Some entries cover groups, so 81 does not mean 81 individual substances. Use the current official list for the ingredient assessment rather than relying on a fixed list copied into an artwork checklist.

Use Health Canada's implementation dates alongside the operative Canadian rules. Those rules incorporate the EU Annex III allergen list as amended. Section 21.4(5) postpones disclosure until the later of the EU amendment's entry into force and, where applicable, the deadline for making the cosmetic available on the EU market. It does not set out the April and August dates in the table.

Existing-product status needs evidence. The Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement with SOR/2024-63 describes existing products, for the expansion, as products on the market before August 1, 2026. That statement is explanatory. It is not a definition in the regulation. But manufacture before that date is not enough on its own. Don't assign the 2028 deadline solely from a batch's production date.

Before approving the artwork

Check the two labels against their separate duties. Confirm that the dealer details remain present alongside the chosen consumer-contact method. Review ingredient names and order, then assess fragrance allergens against the product type and applicable transition date. Keep the official guide with the approval record so the basis for each decision is clear.

RegAffairs AI answers what cosmetic labels must include in Canada with links to its cited sources.

Complete the product-specific warning check before release. Certain hair dyes, pressurized genital deodorants and applicable aerosols have specific requirements. Section 24 also requires safe-use directions where a cosmetic presents an avoidable hazard. The applicable text is in Cosmetic Regulations, sections 22 to 27.